Envelop-stamper



(No Model.) I

I. 0. GOODRIDGE.

BNVELOP STAMPBB.

No. 569,454,. Patented Oct. 13, 1896.

IIIIH.

am M wanna/1 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA C. GOODRIDGE, OF ROCHESTER, NETV YORK.

ENVELOP-STAM PER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 569,454, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed December 11, 1895. Serial No. 571,809. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IRA G. GOODRIDGE, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Envelop-Stampers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to magazine stampaftixers, and has for its object the production of a simple and inexpensive device which will loosely hold a number of separated postagestamps and by means of which the bottom stamp of the series can be moistened on a suitable pad and then pressed on an envelop, the pressure being applied to such portion of the stamp that its edges will freely slip away from the retaining-points when the device is lifted.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my device complete. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a bottom plan view. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

In all the figures the same reference-characters are used to designate the same parts.

The rectangular magazine or chamber A for holding the stack of stamps s is provided at each side with inwardly-extending points a and at each end with a vertical cylinder a, forming a chamber for a coil-spring a, the walls between the magazine and the two spring-chambers being slotted, as at (F. A plunger B is fitted to move vertically in the magazine and has a shank b, passing up through an opening in the top of the magazine and through a tube a secured to the latter, and is provided with a suitable handle Z). At each end the plunger is provided with an arm 6 extending through the slot a and resting on the top of the spring a, the two springs to being confined between said arms and the bottoms of the cylinders a and serving to normally keep the plunger elevated, thus relieving the stamps from pressure except when the plunger is forcibly depressed. The side edges of the plunger are cut away or notched at b opposite the points a and the face of the plunger along the said edges adjacent to the notches b is cut away, in or-- der to form a central flat face 11 which, when the plunger is operated, will act to depress the central portion of the stamp without exerting pressure on those portions of the stamp which are adjacent to the retaining-points.

The operation is as follows: The magazine or box A is filled with a stack of stamps which have been previously separated from each other, the said stamps being inserted with their; faces toward the plunger. To aid the user in so placing the stamps that they will be applied to envelops with their upper edges at the top of the latter, the bottom and top of one of the cylinders a may be suitably marked, as by the word Head impressed in the metal. If the magazine is being filled with stamps while held in an inverted position, the said mark on the bottom of the cylinder serves as a guide to indicate which end of the stamps should be at that end of the magazine, and when a stamp is to be applied to an envelop the mark on the top of the cylinder indicates'which end of the magazine should be placed at the upper edge of the envelop.

Since the springs a keep the plunger elevated there is no pressure normally exerted on the stamps, but when one is to be applied to an envelop the device is placed on a suitable moistened pad, and pressure being then exerted on the plunger by means of the handle I) the gum side of the bottom stamp is moistened. The device is then transferred to the envelop, and another operation of the plunger presses the moistened stamp on the paper, to which it will adhere while the device is lifted. Owing to the fact that the lifting of the device immediately removes all pressure that would tend to bind the edges of the stamp against the points a and also owing to the fact that only the central portion of the stamp has received the greatest pressure from the face Z2 of the plunger, the edges of the stampbetween the points have not become stuck to the envelop, and consequently are freely bent up and passed by the said points; but as the surface of the moistening-pad is always somewhat elastic the said edges have been moistened, so that when the applied stamp is subjected to pressure from the hand or by the application of a stamp to another envelop laid thereon the said edges and the corners are firmly stuck to the envelop.

. The thin edges of the plunger each side of the acting face 19 form an important feature of the construction, for it is owing to this that the applied stamp is readily released from the magazine when the device is lifted. It will be understood that if the entire face of the plunger were level the corners and entire face of the stamp exceptthose portions under the points a would be caused to adhere more or less to the envelop, thus buckling the stamp over and around the points.

-Then when the device is lifted the points would either tear the stamp or tend to lift it entirely away from the envelop.

Another important feature of my invention consists in the arms b extending through the slots a and thus serving to guide the plunger and prevent it from rotating and binding against the inner walls of the magazine. The small points of paper at the edges of postage-stamps are very flexible and are readily curled up. Therefore if any portions of the separated edge of a stamp should curl up between the edges of the plunger and the walls of the magazine there'would be a tendency of such stamp to become jammed there when the plunger moves downward if the latter were not so guided as to prevent its edges from approaching the walls close enough to catch astamp.

The lower edges of the magazine are preferably provided with notches, as at c,through which a pin may be inserted to remove a stamp or stamps when desired.

WVhile I prefer to locate the retainingpoints a at the sides of the magazine, as indicated in the drawings, it is obvious that they might be located at the lower edges of the end walls, if desired.

Having now describedmy invention, what I claim is 1. In an envelop-stamper, the combination with the magazine A having retaining-points a at its lower edges, and slots 0. in its end walls, of the plunger B movable within the magazine and having arms 1) extending through said slots for keeping the edges of the plunger out of contact with the inner walls of the magazine, and springs arranged to act on said arms I) for normally holding the plunger at the upper portion of the maga.

zine.

2. In an envelop stamper, the combination 

